ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Remarks by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at signing ceremony
Friends,
You just witnessed the signing of an MoU between Saudi ARAMCO and ADNOC for participating in the greenfield Ratnagiri Refinery cum petrochemical project in Maharashtra. It is an honour for us that the signing took place in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE.
Today’s MoU is in continuation of the MoU entered between Saudi ARAMCO and RRPCL and the three oil marketing companies – IOCL, BPCL and HPCL signed in April on the sidelines of the16th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting in the presence of my colleague Minister and friend H.E. Khalid Al Falih. Today we have been joined by ADNOC as another partner in this mega project.
The investment by Saudi ARAMCO and ADNOC in the $ 44 billion project will be the highest ever overseas investment in the Indian refining sector. The significance, however, goes much beyond FDI. It is a strategic partnership between India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE which is symbolised by the MoU. The strategic partnership brings together crude supply, resources, technologies, experience and expertise of these multiple oil companies with an established commercial presence around the world.
The last four years have seen the three countries coming closer than ever before owing to the commitment and vision shown by our leadership. Prime Minister Modi and the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have met multiple times to strengthen the political, economic and strategic relations and people to people contacts.
Saudi Arabia has always been a trusted and reliable suppplier of crude for India and a key element of India’s energy security. I have received this assurance from my colleague minister, H.E. Khalid Al Falih, several times including during our last meeting at Vienna last week on the margins of the OPEC International Seminar. With the UAE too we have investment in India’s strategic reserves programme. The first crude consignment to fill the Mangalore SPR was received last month. Our companies – IOCL, OVL and BPRL have invested in Lower Zakhum offshore oil field in February this year and I am happy that the first crude consignment from this investment also reached Mangalore on June 8.
Regarding the Ratnagiri Refinery, I wish to inform you that the mega refinery will be capable of processing 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day . It will produce a large range of refined petroleum products, including petrol and diesel meeting BS-VI fuel efficiency norms. The Refinery will also provide feedstock for the integrated petrochemicals complex, which will have the capacity of producing approx. 18 million tonnes per annum of petrochemical products.
We look forward to usering a new era of cooperation between India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the oil andgas sector.
Ministry of Defence
The Corps of Army Air Defence celebrates its 30th Raising Day
Pune, 10 January 2023
The Corps of Army Air Defence  celebrated its 30th Raising Day today with due remembrance to it’s glorious past & gritty resolve for an even better future with its war cry ‘Akashe Shatrun Jahi’ meaning ‘Shoot the En in Air’.
Army Air Defence in India traces its origins to 1939, in Pre-Independent India when anti-aircraft units were raised to counter Japanese air threat during WW-II. In its true sense, the raising of the Corps of Army Air Defence began on 15 Sep 1940 when Number 1 Anti Aircraft Training Centre commenced its raising in Colaba  and was completed by Jan 1941 in Karachi. Post independence, it remained a part of the Regiment of Artillery and later bifurcated as separate arm on 10 Jan 1994, carving out a niche for itself as an operationally critical and technologically advanced Combat support Arm of the Indian Army.
The transformation of the Corps of Army Air Defence is proceeding on a twin track of modernization cum upgradation. This involves the induction of new state of the art weapon systems as well as qualitative upgradation of the existing systems. Today, the Corps is at a critical juncture of transforming into a modern and technologically enabled force.
Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen AK Singh, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, GOC - in - C, Southern Command complimented the Air Defence warriors for their unswerving commitment & dedication and exhorted them to further strive for excellence in all fields. He also added that the modernisation program of the Corps is on track and going to prove a vital combat enabler in enhancing overall operational capabilities of Indian Army.
The glorious history of the Corps is adorned by numerous honours and awards of which four Battle Honours, four Military Crosses, two Orders of the British Empire, one Medal of the British Empire, seven Indian Distinguished Service Medals and two Ashok Chakras deserve a special mention.PIB Pune | M.Iyengar/D.Rane
Follow us on social media:@PIBMumbai /PIBMumbai /pibmumbai pibmumbai[at]gmail[dot]com /PIBMumbai /pibmumbai
(Visitor Counter : 881
Ministry of Education
National Achievement Survey  to be held on 12th November, 2021 across the country
The Government of India has been implementing a rolling programme of sample based National Achievement Survey  aimed at classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three years. The last National Achievement Survey  was held on 13th November, 2017 for assessing the competencies developed by the children at the grade levels III, V and VIII.
The next round of NAS will be held on 12th November 2021 across the country, which will help to assess the learning interruptions and new learnings during the COVID pandemic and help to take remedial measures. The instrument development, testing, finalization of the test items, sampling of the schools etc. has been done by NCERT. However, the actual administration of the test in the sampled schools will be done by CBSE in collaboration with the respective states/UTs. NAS 2021 will cover the entire spectrum of schools i.e. Government Schools , Government Aided Schools and Private schools across the country. It is expected that nearly 1.23 lakh schools and 38 lakh students in 733 districts across 36 States and UTs will be covered in the NAS 2021. NAS will be conducted in Language, Mathematics & EVS for class 3 & 5; Language, Mathematics, Science & Social Science for class 8 and Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English for class 10. The Test would be conducted in 22 mediums of instruction covering Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Odiya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Garo, Khasi, Konkani, Nepali, Bhutia, and Lepcha.
For smooth and fair conduct of the survey, 1,82,488 Field Investigators, 1,23,729 Observers, 733 District Level Coordinators and District Nodal Officers separately and 36 State Nodal Officers in each State and UT, have been appointed. Also, 1500 Board Representatives have been appointed in the districts for monitoring overall functioning and ensuring fair conduct of the Survey. All the personnel have been provided extensive training regarding their roles and responsibilities.
A National Steering Committee has been constituted for conduct of NAS headed by Chairman, CBSE. A Portal  has been launched to enable coordination with various key functionaries for smooth conduct of NAS 2021. State and District Report cards for both elementary and secondary level for NAS 2021 will be released and placed in public domain.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar to visit J&K tomorrow
MoS to Interact with State Government officials, students & other stakeholders to broaden engagement in skilling, innovation and entrepreneurship
Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development and Electronics and IT Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar will embark on a two-day tour to Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow during which he will hold interactions with state government officials, students and other stakeholders to broaden engagement in the areas of skilling, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar will also be meeting key beneficiaries of Government schemes like Mumkin, Tejaswani schemes, Ujjwala, Aap ki Zameen, Aap ki Nigrani schemes etc and give away the promised disbursements to several of them at Ramban. He will also be distributing motorized tricycles/ scooties/ among the specially-abled beneficiaries.
He will be visiting Government Polytechnic College, Chanderkote to interact with students and staff members and visit the stalls put up by them, displaying their products. The Minister will also be launching a Job Mela for placement of skilled youth in various companies. Later he will lay the foundation stones of various projects virtually .
The Minister will also be holding interactions with Chairperson, District Development Council , and District Commissioner of Ramban.
Shri Chandrasekhar will then leave for Patnitop where he will be interacting with hoteliers, youth and members of tourism clubs, apart from representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions. He will also be launching a sanitation drive there.
In Jammu, the Minister will be interacting with the trainees and officials of the Regional Directorate of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  and National Skill Training Institutes  and discuss with them skilling efforts in the districts—keeping in mind the resources available and the aspirations of local people.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Shri L. Murugan, Honorable Minister of state for Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India will be on a two day visit to the State
The Minister will arrive this evening and tomorrow will take part in several programs at Mysuru
Tomorrow afternoon, at Mysuru, as part of the 75 years celebration of India's Independence 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', Honorable Minister will inaugurate the 3 day photo exhibition organised by the Mysuru field office of Regional Outreach Bureau, Karnataka at AIR premises.
After this the Honorable Minister will visit Naadaalaya, a photo gallery of music Maestros at AIR, Mysuru
Before his visit to AIR in the morning, he will take part in the 106th Jayanthi celebrations of H H Jagadguru Dr. Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji of Suttur Math after which he will inaugurate Community Radio station at JSS College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Mysuru.
NITI Aayog
Atal Innovation Mission and Vigyan Prasar announce collaboration between Atal Tinkering Labs and Engage with Science
Atal Innovation Mission , a flagship initiative of Niti Aayog on Monday announced a collaboration with Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organization of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to drive synergies between AIM’s Atal Tinkering Labs  and Vigyan Prasar’s unique interactivity platform, Engage With Science .
Engage with Science as part of the collaboration, will onboard all 9200+ ATL-enabled schools and engage their students, teachers and Principals in perennial activities. These activities will lead to accumulation of points based on which certificates and incentives will be provided to motivate students and teachers about STEM content consumption.
With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission has established 9200+ Atal Tinkering Laboratories  in schools across India. The main aim of ATL is to foster curiosity, creativity, and imagination in young minds simultaneously inculcating skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
ATL is a workspace where young minds give shape to their ideas and learn skills through hands on do-it-yourself mode. Young children get a chance to work with tools and equipment to understand the concepts of STEM .
Welcoming the collaboration, Dr Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, said: “The collaboration between AIM and Vigyan Prasar is a great opportunity for both organizations as it will play a vital role in reviving and updating our education practices to keep up with the technological advances. The Engage with Science program with ATLs will help foster the culture of STEM innovation and serve as a platform where young minds are exposed to experiential learning with the focus on invention, innovation, and collaborative problem-solving to maximize impact.”
Engage With Science is a part of the India Science OTT channel project and aims to publicise and popularize STEM video content on India Science , the nation’s own STEM OTT channel. EWS already has more than 10,000 schools on board, and has regular activities targeting school Principals, teachers and students. Currently, EWS activities are available in Hindi and English, while an expansion into other Indian languages are also on the cards.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Nakul Parashar, Director, Vigyan Prasar, said: “The impressionistic STEM content consumer today demands interactivity – wants to be part of the action. By adding Engage With Science’s interactivity to the India Science OTT channel offering, Vigyan Prasar is set to create India’s first interactive OTT channel. And this collaboration with Atal Tinkering Labs will only galvanise schools to create a multiplier effect on STEM content consumption and interactivity.”
The event was also attended by renowned personality, Mr Sharman Joshi, Brand Ambassador of Engage With Science.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs
Over 5 lakh applications received under PM SVANidhi scheme
Number of loan sanctions under the schemecrosses 1 lakh
The number of loan sanctions and number of applications received under PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi  scheme have crossed the mark of 1 lakh and 5 lakhs respectively within 41 days of commencement of the lending process on July 02, 2020. The PM SVANidhi scheme has generated considerable enthusiasm among the street vendors, who have been looking for access to affordable working capital credit for re-starting their businesses post COVID-19 lockdown.
The PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs under the ambit of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’. It aims at facilitating collateral free working capital loans upto Rs 10,000 of 1 year tenure, to about 50 lakh street vendors in the urban areas, including those from the surrounding peri-urban/ rural areas, to resume their businesses post COVID-19 lockdown. Incentives in the form of interest subsidy @ 7% per annum on regular repayment of loan, cashback upto Rs 1,200 per annum on undertaking prescribed digital transactions and eligibility for enhanced next tranche of loan have also been provided.
PM SVANidhi Scheme envisages bringing ‘Banks at the door steps’ of these ‘nano-entrepreneurs’ by engaging the Non-Banking Financial Companies  and the Micro-Finance Institutions  as lending institutions in addition to Scheduled Commercial Banks - Public & Private, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks, SHG Banks etc. The onboarding of the vendors on digital payment platforms is a very important component to build the credit profile of the vendors to help them become part of the formal urban economy.
Small Industries Development Bank of India  is the implementation partner for the scheme. A graded guarantee cover is provided, on portfolio basis, to these lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises  to encourage lending to street vendors.
The street vendors mostly operate their businesses on very thin margins. The micro-credit support under the scheme is expected to provide not only major relief to such vendors but also help them climb the economic ladder. Use of an integrated IT Platform , Web Portal and Mobile App, has enabled the Scheme to extend its reach and benefits to this segment of society with the objective of minimum government and maximum governance.
Ministry of Defence
MoD proposes to allow girl students to be admitted to Rashtriya Indian Military College & Rashtriya Military Schools
Key Highlights:
- Proposed plan to be implemented in two phases
- In the first phase, for RIMC, capacity of students to be increased from 250 to 300; Girls to be allowed to take RIMC entrance exam in June 2022
- For entry into RMS, 10% of total vacancies in each school reserved for girl candidates for Class-VI
Following the directive of the Supreme Court, Ministry of Defence  has proposed to allow girl students to be admitted to Rashtriya Indian Military College  and Rashtriya Military Schools . According to an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, there is requirement of authorising additional vacancies along with other associated infrastructure and administrative support. This is proposed to be carried out in two phases.
For entry into RIMC in the first phase, the maximum capacity of students will be increased from 250 to 300 incrementally by inducting five girls for six months. This increase can be affected with some infrastructure modification and additional staff to support the girl cadets. For this, it is submitted that girls will be allowed to take the RIMC entrance examination scheduled in June 2022 for entry into RIMC for the term starting in January 2023.
Similarly, in Phase-2, the capacity will be increased incrementally from 300 to 350 to induct 10 girls every six months. At the end of this expansion, RIMC will have 250 boys and 100 girls. For this, it is submitted that girls will be allowed to take the RIMC entrance examination scheduled in June 2027 for entry into RIMC for the term starting in January 2028. The RIMC is situated in Dehradun .
The affidavit points out the requirement to create girl friendly infrastructure in the school campus to facilitate the living of girls with respect to privacy, safety and security. A Board of officers is examining the issues so that necessary girl friendly infrastructure and support staff is established.
With respect to induction of girls in RMS, the following is proposed:
- Phase-I: Reserve 10% of the total vacancies in each school for girl candidates for entry into Class-VI in accordance with various reservations applicable in the RMSs w.e.f. academic session 2022-23.
- Phase-II: Reserve 10% of the total vacancies in each school for girl candidates for entry into Class-VI & Class-IX in accordance with various reservations applicable in the RMSs w.e.f. academic session 2023-24.
The Rashtriya Military schools are located at Chail , Ajmer , Belgaum , Bengaluru  & Dholpur . 30% of the available seats are also earmarked for wards of civilians. The admission test is held in December for approx. 350 seats.
ABB/Savvy
(Visitor Counter : 571
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
151.94 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
India's Active caseload currently stands at 7,23,619
Active cases stands at 2.03%
Recovery Rate currently at 96.62%
46,569 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 3,45,00,172
1,79,723 new cases in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
69.16 cr Total Tests conducted so far
Statewise status of Omicron Variant
|
|
S. No.
|
|
State
|
|
No. of Omicron Cases
|
|
Discharged/Recovered/Migrated
|
|
1
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
1,216
|
|
454
|
|
2
|
|
Rajasthan
|
|
529
|
|
305
|
|
3
|
|
Delhi
|
|
513
|
|
57
|
|
4
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
441
|
|
26
|
|
5
|
|
Kerala
|
|
333
|
|
93
|
|
6
|
|
Gujarat
|
|
236
|
|
186
|
|
7
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
|
185
|
|
185
|
|
8
|
|
Haryana
|
|
123
|
|
92
|
|
9
|
|
Telangana
|
|
123
|
|
47
|
|
10
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
113
|
|
6
|
|
11
|
|
Odisha
|
|
74
|
|
8
|
|
12
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
|
28
|
|
9
|
|
13
|
|
Punjab
|
|
27
|
|
16
|
|
14
|
|
West Bengal
|
|
27
|
|
10
|
|
15
|
|
Goa
|
|
19
|
|
19
|
|
16
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
10
|
|
10
|
|
17
|
|
Assam
|
|
9
|
|
9
|
|
18
|
|
Uttarakhand
|
|
8
|
|
5
|
|
19
|
|
Meghalaya
|
|
4
|
|
3
|
|
20
|
|
A&N Islands
|
|
3
|
|
0
|
|
21
|
|
Chandigarh
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
22
|
|
J&K 
|
|
3
|
|
3
|
|
23
|
|
Puducherry
|
|
2
|
|
2
|
|
24
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
25
|
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
26
|
|
Ladakh
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
27
|
|
Manipur
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
||
|
Total
|
|
4,033
|
|
1,552
Ministry of Development of North-East Region
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh flags off India Russia Friendship Car Rally 2021
Union Minister of State  Development of North Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr.Jitendra Singh today flagged off India Russia Friendship Car Rally 2021. The event organized by International Friendship Car Rally Association, IFCRA, will take place in Russia from 18th to 20th April. This is the 5th IFCRA edition and there are 14 participants from IFCRA India representing the North East.
Speaking after the flag-off ceremony, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Russia has been a reliable partner of India and joint sporting events will further strengthen the bonds of friendship. He said that diplomatic, social and cultural ties with Russia scaled new heights under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dr Jitendra Singh hoped that participants from North East region in this event will further add to growing bilateral ties.
The event is sponsored by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and supported by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Ministry of External Affairs.
<><><><><>
SNC
(Visitor Counter : 559
Prime Minister's Office
PM shares details of 8 Years of Garib Seva
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has said that the Government is fully dedicated towards serving of poor and marginalised. Shri Modi also said that Government has always worked to ensure effective and transparent service delivery to the poor.
He also shared a MyGov tweet thread and articles from his website and Namo App.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
"Our government has always worked to ensure effective and transparent service delivery to the poor. #8YearsOfGaribSeva"
"Ours is a Government fully dedicated to serving the poor and marginalised. These articles highlight the key efforts towards #8YearsOfGaribSeva."